Every Time I Die: You Want More? You’ll Get More

EVERY TIME I DIE need no introduction. For many, they’re the finest hardcore band of the 21st century, with a bulletproof back catalogue that seems to get stronger and stronger with every release. Their new album, Radical, carries on this trend with aplomb, finding the band just as enlivened as when they first came tearing out the gate over two decades ago. As ETID records go, this one’s been a long time coming, arriving five years after the arguable career high of 2016’s Low Teens. For guitarist Andy Williams, the fact that it’s finally here “doesn’t feel real”. He likens the wait to that of Chinese Democracy, and while it’s actually mercifully far shorter than that, it is more than double the gap between any of the band’s previous records.

Of course, there’s an obvious culprit for the delay, with EVERY TIME I DIE actually putting the finishing touches to Radical in the ‘before times’ of March 2020. “Our band has always been a touring band, and I don’t think you get the EVERY TIME I DIE experience on a record,” Williams explains. “We’re the type of band where you can take our records and use it for whatever you wanna use it for, you can run to it, you can study to it, you can be creative to it, and that’s for you. But when you come and see us live, that’s the experience we want you guys to have. So that’s why we waited, we want you to hear the record but we also want you to hear us play the songs live so that you can get a feel for what we want out of those songs.”

With a UK tour just around the corner, and the band hitting the road across the pond before that, it won’t be long before many of us get to see exactly what Williams and co. have in mind. In the meantime however, it’s a pleasure getting acquainted with Radical’s whopping 16 tracks. While he has a hard time putting his finger on what’s changed about EVERY TIME I DIE in the years since Low Teens, Williams agrees that it didn’t take much to get their creative juices flowing when the time came to record its follow-up. “I think all of our brains were firing at the right time and I think that’s why the record is 16 songs or something like that – we just kept writing. I know Jordan [Buckley, guitarist] wrote a song while we were recording and then I wrote a song while we were recording; it just never stopped.”

Joining the band in the studio for the first time this time around was drummer Clayton ‘Goose’ Holyoak. Along with returning producer Will Putney, who Williams describes as the band’s “sixth member”, Holyoak slotted right into proceedings, with EVERY TIME I DIE functioning as cohesively and consistently as they ever have. “I think Goose might be the most complete drummer for us,” enthuses Williams. “He has all the stuff Ratboy has, he has all the stuff Leg$ has, and he has all the stuff Daniel has. It’s like in G.I. Joe when they created Cobra-La and they took all the stuff that was evil, we just took all the stuff that we loved about our other drummers and found a drummer that does all that.”

If EVERY TIME I DIE are synonymous with anything, it’s their hometown of Buffalo. Their annual Christmas shows there are the stuff of legend – the source of much envy here in the UK – and the band have always worn their origins proudly on their sleeves. It seems natural then that they would choose to record there too, but that hasn’t always been the case. For Williams, returning to Buffalo to record Radical, as they did for Low Teens before it, proved something of a golden ticket. “I think when you have these concentrated bursts where you have to be creative and you have this amount of time, getting to go home and take yourself out of that is huge. You have to remember that our brains are like this supercomputer and after a while if you have your computer on all day it’s gonna overheat and start acting weird!”

Line-ups and recording locations may change, but if one thing stays the same it’s ETID’s refusal to compromise. It’s this which has kept them putting out quality record after quality record, with Williams emphasising that the band would never release a song that they felt “eh” about. No wonder they’re hugely influential, inspiring legions of bedroom guitarists right through to bands who’ve climbed to the top of the scene in their own right. That’s always been exactly the point. “I think any type of inspiration that can make someone be creative, that’s my main goal, and that’s been my main goal with anything I’ve ever done in entertainment. It’s like if I can have one kid out there show up to a show seeing another band but then see us and go away like ‘holy fuck, I have to start a band!’ – that’s my main goal.”

ETID don’t seem to be alone in this vision, with Williams agreeing that the hardcore scene of 2021 is in the rudest of health. He points to the new lease on life found by bands like EIGHTEEN VISIONS and POISON THE WELL with much excitement, something which of course extends to the future of his own band too, even if the details are a little hazy at the moment. “I have no clue [what’s next], and I like the fact that we don’t know,” he smiles. “It makes me feel like when the band first started and things were super exciting and you’re discovering new chords everyday, you’re discovering new lines everyday – it’s kinda like that where it’s like ‘we just got an offer to play South Africa’ or something like that – let’s do it!”

If the bigger picture is a little unclear, the near future is far less muddy. With EVERY TIME I DIE hitting the UK early next year as mentioned, it’s set to be a glorious reunion for fans and band alike. “It’s so strange that I haven’t seen you guys for a fucking year,” Williams muses. “I can’t wait to get over there. The shows are always so good. Like honestly, just to put British fans over, over here everyone is so spoiled and over there you guys are so appreciative. You don’t understand that you guys are giving us stuff but you guys give us so much, and it’s so cool. From the time we get there to the time we leave, UK fans always let us know that they want more of us and it always makes us feel good, so thank you guys!”

Radical is set for release on October 22nd via Epitaph Records.

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